Like many of you, I've been watching the big changes in user interfaces over the past few years, trying to make sense of them all. Is there a common explanation for the controversies surrounding the Windows 8 UI and Unity? Where do GNOME 3, KDE, Cinnamon, and MATE fit in? This article offers one view.

The problem is none of these clowns have any idea what they're doing and what people want. The Linux developers are especially bad with this. If gnome just continued on it's way from the 2.x series Microsoft would be bleeding worse than they are. Instead all this energy and developer talent is going into retardation. No conservative business is rushing into tablets. Not one. Linux's competitive advantage is low cost software licensing. That's it. If they really want to score more users they need to fix up what they're doing. Ironically Linux gets the games it needs, right at the moment they decide to derp up the UI.

Touch/Mobile are NOT replacements for desktop computers. They are alternatives to casual web browsing and extremely light net users, they also have new applications as menus and viewers. They are not going to take off for anyone who has to write 30 page reports, or who has to create and edit lots of content. The content creation experience on an iPad is horrible, and Android tablets are not significant enough to be meaningful.

Android phones are making a dent but that's because youtube in your pocket with decent GPS and mp3 was going to takeoff from whoever gave it cheapest.

We already have a Mobile version of Linux, it's name is Android. Desktop Linux needs to get back on track. It should be trying to provide a viable alternative to Windows and Mac OSX on Desktops and Laptops. Touch is going to be an experiment on desktops, because frankly your arms get sore and your screen gets smudged. Once the 50-70 year olds die, noone is going to use touch on home desktop PCs, and the oldies won't use it well while it exists. It's a solution searching for a problem that doesn't exist. People who can't use keyboards and mice shouldn't be using computers, or should be getting training in using them. Even Steve Jobs is on record with this.

I'm yet to see a decent laptop with a rotatable tablet style touchscreen so I think we're a ways from anything reasonable in touch based laptops.